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Cooper Edges McWilliams in Mid-Am Playoff
-- John Grace Coasts to Victory in Senior Division and Wins by Six

THE WOODLANDS, TX (May 15, 2008) – The drama of three days of golf unfolded on the 17th and 18th holes today before a large crowd of fellow competitors and spectators as Andy Cooper won his 2nd Carlton Woods Invitational in a sudden death playoff over Robby McWilliams. There was plenty of drama throughout the day. Jamie Held who played a nearly flawless round of golf capitalized on two Robby McWilliams bogeys on the 1st and 2nd holes by playing them one under to move into a first place tie early in the round. From there is was back and forth with Held shooting two under on the front and McWilliams taking a one shot lead into the 10th hole. McWilliams stumbled by making double bogey on 10, 11, and 12.  During that same stretch, Held played 10, 11, and 12 one over to build a four stroke lead at one point.  Meanwhile in the group ahead, Andy Cooper who also started the day at three over par, stayed close to the leaders by making few mistakes and by making nothing worse than a bogey. Held took a four stroke lead over McWilliams and a three shot lead over Cooper going into the 16th hole.  

Cooper knocked it stiff on the 16th hole to make birdie and to pull within two strokes of the lead.  From there, Cooper bogeyed the 17th hole but made a miraculous flop shot to get up and down on the 18th for a tap in birdie. He posted a one over par 71 and finished the tournament at 220. Held teed off on the 17th with a two stroke lead over Cooper but he landed in the water. After taking a drop and hitting his approach shot, Held struggled and ended up taking a devastating triple bogey six on the par three. McWilliams made par on the 17th.  On the 18th tee, McWilliams and Held both trailing by one needed to make birdie in order to force a sudden death playoff with Cooper.   Held’s approach shot was a little too far left and caught the ridge and rolled about 35 feet left of the flag. He two putted from there to make par.   McWilliams’ second shot landed right of the green.  McWilliams made an incredible shot over a deep bunker in front of a large gallery to end up within six feet of the pin. He drained the putt to shoot 76 and tied Cooper at 220. 

On the first hole of sudden death playoff, both Cooper and McWilliams went for the par 5 in two. McWilliams played first and his ball landed long in the collection area behind number 18. Cooper’s approach shot ended up right in the greenside bunker.   McWilliams chipped to within 15 feet but missed his birdie. Cooper’s sand shot landed within six feet and he made the putt for the win. “I really was not expecting to win. I thought I was playing for 2nd place” said Cooper. “It’s pretty special to have the opportunity to be here and to win this again – especially here in front of all of your friends. I feel pretty bad for Jamie. He’s a good friend. We’ve gotten to know each other pretty well and played a lot of golf together.   My heart goes out to him” said Cooper. 

John Grace, however, was playing to win. He started and ended the day with a six shot lead over the Senior Division field. He drew upon his experience from 34 appearances in USGA events to handily defeat Eddie Lyons of Shreveport, LA who shot two under to finish at 221 for the tournament.  Grace’s 215 score was good enough to tie the Senior Division tournament record established last year by Bob Hullender. John Grace knows that anything can happen on the Nicklaus golf course against strong competitors like Mike Rice and Eddie Lyons. It tightened up right out of the gate with Grace making bogies on the 2nd and 3rd holes. Rice played those same holes even par to pull within four strokes but Grace regained the breathing room he needed when Rice missed a birdie putt on the 5th hole and then bogeyed the 6th and 7th.  Rice came right back on the 8th hole hitting his second shot to within six feet. When Grace missed his birdie putt, Rice calmly rolled in his eagle putt.    With four strokes to make up, Rice made a critical mistake ending up in the water on the 9th hole and taking a double bogey while Grace continued to make pars. Heading into the back nine with the same six shot lead where he started the day, Grace played the final nine even par and Rice never made another run. “On this golf course the competition is always tight.   I never felt good until the very last putt. You can make a triple bogey in a split second” said Grace.  “I really hit the ball well today. I hit every fairway and that made a big difference” added Grace.

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Robby McWilliams

THE WOODLANDS, TX (May 14, 2008) – Mid-Am Robby McWilliams of Bossier City, LA posted an even par 72 on the 7,224 yard Fazio Course to capture a 3 stroke lead over Danny Green of Jackson, TN, Andy Cooper of The Woodlands, TX and Jamie Held of The Woodlands, TX.  Meanwhile, John Grace of Fort Worth, TX, winner of the 1994 Texas State Amateur Championship, posted a 1 under par 71 to capture a 6 stroke lead over Mike Rice of Houston, TX, Steven Hakes of San Diego, CA and William Sumner of Conroe, TX.

Starting one stroke back, McWilliams got off to a fast start with birdies at 1 and 7 to shoot 34 on the front nine. Just after he finished the front nine, the field was called in for an hour and a half severe weather delay.  Once back on the course, McWilliams bogeyed the 10th hole but quickly recovered with a birdie on the 12th hole. McWilliams played a solid and steady round of golf but stumbled a bit with 3 putts on the 15th and 16th holes to finish even par for the day and the tournament.  McWilliams said, “I knew par was going to be a good score and I was under par until I had those little hiccups back there on 15 and 16. I knew even par would probably be in the last group tomorrow and that’s what you want to do.” 

Danny Green, who represented Tennessee in the USGA State Team Championship at the Fazio course last year, used his experience with the golf course to his advantage and posted the low round of the day to establish a new course record for the Mid-Am Division with a 3 under par 69.   “I played really solid today.  If my putter had worked better, I could have made a lot more birdies but I’m very happy with 3 under” said Green. Local resident and club member, Andy Cooper also benefited from the rain delay. After posting a 2 over par 38 on the front nine, Cooper got the hot hand on the back nine and rolled in birdies on the 10th, 17th and 18th holes to finish at 71 tied with Green and Held at 147. After winning the 1st Carlton Woods Invitational in 2006, Andy Cooper finished tied for 24th in 2007.  

Club member Jamie Held is excited to be in contention for this tournament going into the final round. “Winning this tournament would be my greatest golfing achievement” said Held.  “This is a phenomenal field and a prestigious tournament to win but you can’t think about that. You have to go out there and play solid golf.  Against this field it’s going to take a really good score” added Held.
 
John Grace, who’s played in 34 USGA events and recently regained his amateur status, started the day with a bogey on the 1st hole but quickly turned it around with birdies on 3rd, 4th and 6th holes to shoot 34 on the front nine. He made 8 pars and a single bogey on the 12th hole on the back to post a Senior Division record 71 on the Fazio course and takes commanding 6 stroke lead into tomorrow’s final round.  Grace takes his lead into the final round ahead of his expectations. “I felt if I could shoot three rounds under 75, I’d be in contention” he said. “These courses are good enough for the USGA to hold either a US Amateur or a US Open” Grace added.

Mike Rice, the 2005 USGA Senior Amateur Champion and former contestant in the USGA Senior Open Championship knows what it’s like to play in major championships is tied at 147 with Hakes and Sumner. “I thought yesterday’s greens were much harder to putt” said Rice.   However, that did not stop him from making birdies on the 1st, 6th, 9th, and 18th holes to post a 1 under par 71 to tie John Grace for the low round of the day and the new Senior Division 18-hole record.

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2008 Carlton Woods Invitational Underway

** NOTE: To view round 2 pairings, click here> **

Mark Lindberg

THE WOODLANDS, TX (May 13, 2008)--Mid-Am Dan Cook of The Woodlands, Texas and Mark Lindberg of Coppell, Texas each posted a 1 under par 71 on the 7154 yard Nicklaus course to capture a 1 shot lead over Robby McWilliams of Bossier City, LA. Tom Doughtie of Amarillo, TX is 2 shots back. John Grace of Fort Worth, TX, winner of the 1994 Texas State Amateur Championship, posted a 2 under par 70 to capture a 3 stroke lead over Charles Bagby of Birmingham, AL and Bill Sumner of Tomball, TX in the Senior Division.

Dan Cook, a member of the Club at Carlton Woods, has been fighting a lung infection and had not played in several weeks felt lucky to be playing. After finishing tied for 13th in 2006, he hurt his back in 2007 and was unable to play.  “I’ve not been able to play much recently. The last time I played out here was the match play tournament a couple of weeks ago.   I am lucky to be here. I’ve been sick in bed with a lung infection so today was just one of those magical days” said Cook.  

After bogeying the 2nd hole, he got back to even par on the 4th with a birdie and played the remaining front nine holes at even par. On the back side, Dan made 2 bogies and three birdies to finish at 1 under par. “Anytime you finish under par here it’s a great round.  It exceeded my expectations today far beyond what I expected to do” Cook added.

Lindberg made three bogeys, a birdie and an eagle 3 on the 8th to finish the front nine with a 36. On the back, he got his score to -2 before stumbling on the 17th with a bogey to finish the day at -1.   Mark commented, “On the back side I hit greens and fairways. I hit it left on the 15th and had to punch out of the hazard. I got up and down for par there. Other than that I made the putts that I should make and missed the ones I wasn’t supposed to make.”

John Grace, who’s played in 34 USGA events and recently regained his amateur status, started the day with a bogey on the 1st hole but ended the front nine at 1 over par. He got the hot hand with the putter on the back nine starting on the 10th hole. He carded birdies on the 10th, 14th and 18th holes to shoot 33 on the back and 70 for the day. “Every putt I hit was difficult on these greens”, said Grace.  “I’ve played a lot of USGA events and the course reminded of a typical USGA setup. You are never able to relax on this course because there’s not an easy hole out here.  Every shot on this course has to be well thought out because if you get on the wrong side of the hole you’re dead.”  Grace leads a strong Senior Division field by 3 strokes. Defending Senior Champion, Bob Hullender is 6 strokes back.

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Tomorrow’s rounds will be played at the Fazio golf courses.   Play will begin on the 1st and 10th tees in an effort to beat expected inclement weather later in the day.

2008 Carlton Woods Invitational Field Set

THE WOODLANDS, TX (April 16, 2008)--The Club at Carlton Woods announced today that the 3rd Annual Carlton Woods Invitational field is set for the May 13th-15th competition. Among the 107 players confirmed by the Tournament Committee, are 2-time Senior Division Champion Bob Hullender and last year’s Mid-Am Champion, Jonathan Mathias. Also returning for the 3rd straight year is former United States Senior Amateur Champion, Mike Rice.
 
“The response to this year’s tournament has been exceptional. We filled the field in record time with representation from 15 states and significantly increased the strength of the competition,” said Mark Steinbauer, Director of Golf Operations.  “Adding key marquee players like Danny Green and John Grace who are former Walker Cup Team members as well as Jerry Greenbaum, winner of the 1999 British Senior Amateur Championship, will only add to the level of competition and the overall quality of this tournament,” said Steinbauer. 

The tournament will be played May 13-15, 2008, with a practice round scheduled for May 12. In three short years, the Carlton Woods Invitational has already attracted an elite national amateur field with an elite group who holds multiple United States Mid-Amateur, Senior Amateur, British Senior Amateur, and multiple State Amateur Championships.

The Carlton Woods Invitational is a 54-hole stroke play event held on both the Nicklaus and Fazio Courses at The Club at Carlton Woods. The field consists of a Mid-Amateur Division and a Senior Division. Round One will be played on the Nicklaus Course, Round Two will be played on the Fazio Course, and the Final Round will be played on the Nicklaus Course. The field will be cut to the low 50% and ties after Round Two, with the remainder competing in a Consolation Event on the Nicklaus Course.

In just six years of operation, The Club at Carlton Woods has quickly established itself as a preeminent championship venue. The club has hosted USGA Open and Mid-Amateur qualifying, the 2004 Texas State Amateur, and the 2007 USGA State Team Championships. Both the Nicklaus and Fazio Courses have garnered a host of state and national awards.

Dates Set for the 3rd Annual Carlton Woods Invitational
THE WOODLANDS, TX (January, 2008)--The Club at Carlton Woods has announced that the 3rd Annual Carlton Woods Invitational will be played May 13-15, 2008, with a practice round scheduled for May 12. In two short years, the Carlton Woods Invitational has already attracted an elite national amateur field and represents one of the finest events in the U.S. and an esteemed tournament to win.

The Carlton Woods Invitational will be a 54-hole stroke play event held on both the Nicklaus and Fazio Courses at The Club at Carlton Woods. The field will be comprised of a Mid-Amateur Division and a Senior Division. Round One will be played on the Nicklaus Course, Round Two will be played on the Fazio Course, and the Final Round will be played on the Nicklaus Course. The field will be cut to the low 50% and ties after Round Two, with the remainder competing in a Consolation Event on the Nicklaus Course. Competitors should once again expect meticulous care and attention given to course preparation and conditions, and a tough but fair test of golf.

In just six years of operation, The Club at Carlton Woods has quickly established itself as a preeminent championship venue. The club has hosted USGA Open and Mid-Amateur qualifying, the 2004 Texas State Amateur, and the 2007 USGA State Team Championships. Both the Nicklaus and Fazio Courses have garnered a host of state and national awards.